OneThunder

In the U.S today, more than 20 states with more than 20 percent of the population have statutes which recognize the legal therapeutic use of herbal cannabis or cannabinoid-based medicinal preparations. Another dozen or so have CBD-only laws which authorize the use of low-THC, high-CBD content cannabis.

Totally burned out DON, I'm thinking about working in MDS. Can anyone recommend online classes to bring me up to snuff? I used to do MDSs when they were pencil and paper. (LOL!)

I am looking towards that certification. I worked in hospice for 5 years. You would think that physicians and nurses in the hospice field would be able to distinguish pain from addiction. I recently moved over to an inner city SNF. I see the same attitudes there-even from the pain docs! Instead of addressing the problem of addiction, they limit their pain meds, wonder why they go AMA and soon, we see them again. That is not caring for the patient. I'm hoping we can expand services and I am in the process of educating my nurses. I hope there comes a day I don't hear from a nurse "oh he's just drug seeking". Addicts have real pain,too.

just recently had a tour of our local funeral home and he explained the very same things you did. one thing he also said that if the dentures are lost, they do have a prosthesis that can be used to make the mouth look as though the teeth are in.

Sometimes it's not the family that requests an autopsy. Sometimes it's the law. A fall that precedes death is one example. Regardless of whether they are on hospice or not.

Yes, I agree. I had not heard of "leaving marks, tearing skin" and the like. I have done 100's of post mortem care and never experienced that, but I suppose it is possible.

That is an interesting perspective. Food for thought.

if indeed, my perspective is 'hopelessly biased", then your perspective is punative.

Cigarrettes....FDA approved. Yeah, they do a good job...zelnorm, bextra,vioxx,aprotinin..... tattoos a "bad" habit? OMG....

AMEN! I taught first and second semester RN students. MY clinical group started IVs, inserted foleys, walked rounds with the physician....wrote workable care plans and they loved it! You should have seen their faces when the blood in the canual "back flashed" or when the yellow gold (urine) started flowing in the tubing... they would just look at me and smile from ear to ear. The kids knew my clinical was no slouch... to do a head to toe assessment, they needed to see the patient naked. As long as they were naked, they might as well give them a bath...LOL. At first I could see they didn't expect to be doing all this "manual" labor, but quickly realized that it was to their benefit. And talk about proud. Last summer when I visited the medsurg floor of a hospital, a nurse came up to me and said, "do you remember me? I was in your class"

the big difference between how you and i see things is two fold. i want to see the health care system we have improved one bite at a time. you would like to throw out the whole meal and start over. i want to see our healthcare funded by limited gov't programs and more personal responsiblity. you want comprehensive healthcare to be an entitlement. we both agree that the insurance companies have some pretty shady practices, if not down right illegal and immoral. hhhmm perhaps we should join forces and elicit change on the thing we agree on?

I'm not so sure about that. The media will "jump" on a negative story much faster than a positive one. And remember, just because a patient chooses one hospice, doesn't mean they have to stay with them. They can transfer to another. Hospice patients, like any other patient, must be a informed consumer. I understand that patients facing death (and their families) are in an emotional upheaval. Doctors, social workers, nurses need to be informed on the availability of hospice providers and their reputations, not just refer to the "non profit" hospice because it seems to them it is somehow "better" than a "for profit" hospice.

payment for medical treatment is a complex system of qualifications, whether you rely on government assistance or private insurance. hospice care is a treatment option, just like chemo, physical therapy, respiratory therapy. you must qualify for those treatment options. taking away a treatment option from someone that qualifies makes the government play god, as does restricting access to treatment. all other factors being equal, i don't want to support a healthcare system that does.

payment for medical treatment is a complex system of qualifications, whether you rely on government assistance or private insurance. hospice care is a treatment option, just like chemo, physical therapy, respiratory therapy. you must qualify for those treatment options. taking away a treatment option from someone that qualifies makes the government play god, as does restricting access to treatment. all other factors being equal, i don't want to support a healthcare system that does.

I agree. But shouldn't the marketplace dictate the standards? No business, no hospital, no hospice can stay in business with a bad rep for bad service. And there is the matter of Medicare survey and Joint Commission for monetary punishment.